The Arizona Wildcats return Sunday evening from their holiday break, which means Sean Miller has to be on guard again.
Not just about the Pac-12 season that begins Friday for Arizona, nor whether the injured Parker Jackson-Cartwright and the suspended Allonzo Trier will return any time soon.
He has to take count of who’s with him, and who’s not, again.
“We take inventory every day,” Miller says.
By that, Miller was referring to who might be thinking of leaving early for pro basketball, whether their mindset has changed or whether any family/friends/mentors/others have infiltrated their thought process.
The NBA appears to be set on maintaining its 19-year-old minimum age during the current collective bargaining negotiation, which effectively will keep the “one-and-done” option for college basketball through 2023.
Miller also has to keep an eye out for possible transfers.
It was only two years ago, after all, that Craig Victor took off for LSU after the holiday break, when Victor had publicly indicated a month earlier that he was OK with his limited playing time.
And it was only nine months ago that freshman guard Justin Simon opted to transfer to St. John’s. It would be easy to imagine how many minutes both Victor and Simon might have warranted on UA’s currently understaffed roster, but that’s college basketball at the elite level today.
Miller just keeps adjusting to it.
“It’s just a really hard dynamic in college sports,” Miller said, referring to young players’ focus on the NBA. “It’s very, very difficult in college basketball. I don’t think it’s good for anything but that’s the way of the world and we’re gonna do the best that we can.”
Here’s the full context of Miller’s thoughts on roster fluidity in college basketball and the reasons behind it, as he explained over two interviews last week:
- When asked if freshmen arrive with a higher basketball IQ these days, Miller said no.
“I think freshmen come to college basketball with more unrealistic expectations than ever before,” he said. “That statement is the most obvious that a college basketball coach can make, that nobody truly understands the process that’s going to be required to achieve what they want to achieve.
“The one-and-done model is completely upside down in any area of civilization. You don’t become a lawyer and go to law school for a year. First of all, you have to do an incredible job as an undergraduate student to even get in to a law school and then you have to take the test to further establish that you’re qualified. And then you have to get all the way through it. And when you get to be a lawyer, you don’t own your own firm. You’re the low man on the totem pole, In 15 or 20 years, it’s, ‘look what I’ve established.’ And now you’re prepared and you have experience and that process is well defined.”
- At that point, Miller asked “You want me to keep going?” Then he said:
“A doctor, a college professor. You don’t leave college as an undergraduate student and say ‘I’m all set here. I’m going to be one of the best teachers at the University of Arizona.’ So why in God’s name would anybody think taking a 17- or 18-year-old kid … most of the time what nobody understands except the college world is their thought process on becoming an NBA player starts in 10th grade. It’s not about college.
“And then when you’re in college, if that bump in the road happens, it is a true test of humanity. Are you going to blame the coach? Who are you going to blame? And if you’re not going to blame someone, are you going to stick to it and understand you’re doing great and it’s just a matter of time, you’re finally going to get there?
“We’re very fortunate this year that we have three freshmen who are very, very good players and in each of their cases they all have things they really need to improve on, they all have things that they bring to the table initially that you can stamp them as really talented.
“Rawle (Alkins) physically, it’s hard to believe he’s only 18. Lauri (Markkanen), skill wise, it’s hard to believe somebody that size can shoot the basketball the way he can. Kobi (Simmons), his incredible athleticism. And in each of their cases they’re now working hard to add to what they’ve already established.”
- Miller reiterated that freshmen aren’t more prepared than they were 20 years ago, and that the process has become “completely upside down.”
He offered more comparisons:
“If Sean Elliott was Sean Elliott as a freshman (today), you guys would never have gotten to know what he became. He would leave, by today’s standards, in one or two years.”
Miller pointed to two UA players who blossomed as upperclassmen and went on to long NBA careers, Damon Stoudamire and Jason Terry.
Stoudamire averaged 7.2 points and 2.5 assists as a freshman in 1991-92 but was an All-American in 1994-95 and the No. 7 pick in the 1995 NBA Draft.
Terry averaged 9.8 minutes and 3.1 points as a freshman — and considered transferring — but went on to help UA win the 1997 NCAA title. He was named an All-American in 1998-99 and was taken No. 10 in the 1999 NBA Draft.
“How good was Damon Stoudamire at Christmas of his freshman year? I mean, he was just kind of a little guy on the team. And there’s a lot of people that tell me that Damon Stoudamire was the greatest guard to ever play at Arizona statistically. And who he was at the end? His NBA career speaks to that,” Miller said.
“If you judged Jason Terry at Christmas of his freshman year? If he was disgruntled about his opportunity to play and he left Arizona in the spring of his freshman year, think about how different that is. That’s the culture, not at Arizona right now, but in college basketball.
“I see (Kentucky’s) Malik Monk scored 47 points as a freshman (against North Carolina last week) and it’s incredible how talented he is. To think there would have been Malik Monk a decade or 15 years ago, he would have been Kentucky’s seventh or eighth man. It’s just a different game right now. I guess for those guys who are really talented, their upside is making money because they leave and they’re in the NBA for a longer period of time. But they’re the 1 percent. The other 99 percent, it’s just it’s a hard situation.”
- The NBA and its players union appear to be keeping the 19-year age minimum.
“It is what it is,” Miller said. “We’re recruiting five players a year. We take inventory every day. We’re led by three freshmen in scoring. We’ve embraced it. If somebody wants to be one and done, we’re going to try to do whatever we can to help him get there.
“I try to be honest. We’ve had players who talk about that. And if you see that’s not the case, you have to step forward and say that’s not the case. Sometimes maybe they (recruits) don’t come to Arizona.
“The other thing that’s tricky is every once in a while somebody surprises you. If you could have predicted Derrick Williams would have been the No. 2 pick in the draft after his second year, there would have been a lot of takers on that bet (that he wouldn’t) when he left high school. Sometimes it happens unexpectedly that way.”
- While Miller is always wary about his roster, the fact that all active UA players have had plenty of playing time should reduce the thought of anyone transferring this season.
“I hope so,” he said. “I certainly am not going to worry about it and if it happens good luck to them. I mean, eventually you have to come to grips as a coach that we have a terrific program and we treat our players the right way. They have to really buy into being something that’s bigger than (their) own goals and dreams.
“We have a shootaround (Tuesday) and we had three NBA people and one GM. When we travel we fly on charter flights, and when we play a home game, we play in front of 15,000 (fans). Our guys eat the best food. We have a brand new academic center. I could keep going on and on and if this isn’t good enough, then they’re going have to figure out what’s better.
“For us, we’re in a good place. You never quite know at this level, and that’s the world of college basketball right now. But I expect everybody to return (from Christmas break) and hopefully like I’ve said at some point we can have our full cast. It would be nice to have all of them back.”
